The Bank of Bitcoin- The World's Most Secure Bitcoin Service- Unhackable!

[TheBankofBitcoin.com]

BTCoder- If you read the preceeding posts closer (I know there are a lot of them lol) or simply visit our site, you will see that it is specifically our Paper Vaults which are unhackable.  No one can hack a piece of paper with addresses and Private Keys tucked away in your sock drawer    

[saudibull]

LOL, kidding with this right, this is one of the main selling points and greatest ideas behind BTC, the reason its so popular... Because there are no banks, no middlemen, no fees. Take your imaginary bank and get the f&$$ out of here...

[TheBankofBitcoin.com]

saudibull- We are using the word "Bank" in our name because a bank traditionally provides financial services.  Of course, this is not a traditional bank: instead of money, it holds Bitcoins, and instead of someone else holding them, YOU get to hold them yourself, in a way far more secure than in any traditional bank.  It seems that you and others simply have a negative knee-jerk reaction to the word bank...but it doesn't matter at all what it is called, but what it DOES.  It allows anyone to have sole control over the Private Keys for their unhackable Paper Vault, to never need to download or run any special Bitcoin software, and to be able to spend their Bitcoins from any Internet-enabled device in the world.

For this security and convenience, yes, we charge a very small fee of either .0005 or .0001 BTC depending on the action - and many transactions are free!  Even the Bitcoin peer-to-peer network charges a .0005 BTC fee.

Just like Mt. Gox charges fees for its Bitcoin service...but Mt. Gox never give YOU control of your Private Keys.
Just like Bitfloor (when it was running) charged fees for its service...and never gave you control of your Private Keys.
Just like BTC-e charges for its service...and never gave you control of your Private Keys.
(And the list goes on and on....)

But, unlike them, if we are ever hacked the Bitcoins in your Paper Vault are NOT lost!  Paper Vaults are simply unhackable.

So, if you don't want to use our service, you are free not to.  Those who do, however, will enjoy the convenience and absolute security.  

[kazriko]

The network fees are optional though. The larger fee you pay, the faster your transaction gets into a block and the less likely it'll get orphaned, but it's certainly not a requirement.

[TheBankofBitcoin.com]

You're absolutely right about that kazriko. The reason why it's done here is because most people are used to instantaneous transactions with their credit and debit cards, and if the masses are going to adopt BTC, they're not going to want to wait days- or weeks (I've heard it could take months without paying a network fee?) for a transaction to sort. A .0005 fee right now sorts everything very quickly. It's a small price for convenience, but if the price of BTC rises we'd adjust the Bank fees to stay as just as low. This is not a "get rich quick" operation. It's much more beneficial to Bitcoin than one may realise at first glance, for the simple fact that it makes Bitcoins accessible and secure for everyone and their Mother. We hope time will shine some light on that.

The Bank of Bitcoin also provides the advantage of being able to pay someone from any internet-connected device, and if the recipient is also a Bank member they will receive the payment instantaneously and for free. The recipient can then quickly send that payment to their Paper Vault, where it can't be hacked or touched by anyone. Thanks for taking the time to understand!

[shubhank008]

I wonder how you can do false claims and advertising as "World's most secure" service

Even MtGOX which is the biggest BTC process is hacked a few times and there is no such way to actually determine who the world's "most" secure provider is

PS: Maybe you should prepare a more good looking and professional site first ? Looks lame

[TheBankofBitcoin.com]

Shubhank008- The idea here is that Mt. Gox stores your Private Key on their server. We do not. The reason why it's a problem when Gox, or Bitfloor, or BTC-e get hacked is because they store your Private Keys, which is needed to access and spend your Bitcoins. Many have lost their BTCs as a result of this, and it's considered one of the biggest problems with Bitcoin as a currency. We offer you a seamless and secure way to store you're Private Keys in a Paper Vault, much like a Paper Wallet but more convenient. It is the safest way to store your Bitcoins, and indeed is unhackable. It is not a false claim that we offer the most secure way to store your Bitcoins, and we are the only online Bitcoin service to do so. You can learn more about Paper Wallets here: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Paper_wallet


Regarding the look of the site, unfortunately I've learned that programmers aren't web designers so that will get better. I always thought Gox was pretty lame looking too 

[shubhank008]

If you are not storing keys on your server or such, how are you going to automate payments then ? Wont even API need the keys ?

Also, tbh I really dont like the name, let alone being professional, it just sounds hectic

[DaSheep]

i think the name was a bad choice.
we're using bitcoin to get away from the banks aren't we?

[TheBankofBitcoin.com]

Okay, great questions. There are two different types of storage. One is the Paper Vault, where you store your Private Keys yourself. We never see your Private Keys, never have access to them, and your Private Keys are never seen or sent over the internet. It is the safest way to store your BTCs.
 
Then there is Active Storage, which is less secure but more convenient than Paper Vaults. We advise you keep as few BTCs there as needed, and the lionshare in your secure Paper Vault (much like you would typically keep smaller amounts of spending cash in your back pocket, and keep your life savings in a bank). When you want to spend your BTCs out of the Paper Vault, you can either spend them directly out of your Paper Vault (which requires going through the network)- or if you want to transfer BTCs to another Bank member for free and instantly, you can log in, enter your Private Key on the clientside javascript page we provide (so your Private Key is never revealed online, and your BTCs are never made vulnerable- only the transaction string is sent) and you can send the amount you need to your Active Storage for spending. In Active Storage, your Private Keys are kept on our server like Gox does it, which is how you can send to other Members free and instantly. You can always just transfer BTCs into Active Storage when you're going to immediately spend them, significantly decreasing any changes of anyone hacking our server, and therefore gaining access to your BTCs. Each type of storage has it's own benefits and disadvantages, but the tradeoff of storing your BTCs in Paper Vaults is pretty small- it's just the time it takes you enter your Private Key.

[timeofmind]

Why do I need a website service in order to print out the private keys associated with my bitcoin addresses on a piece of paper? Is there something I am missing here? What is the point of having your site at all? Because you serve a javascript application that can generate private keys for people? Why would I run a javascript application given to me by some server when I can just use the standard bitcoind client? Also, anyone can load their private keys into any wallet on any computer and spend them from there, what does this have to do with your online service? You sound like you are providing all the services that are already available inherently in bitcoin to anyone with a bitcoin client.

[TheBankofBitcoin.com]

We are absolutely using BTCs to get away from government-regulated banks, and we are certainly not a government-regulated bank. We believe the word "bank" has meaning outside of regulated banks. In our case, it is bank in the sense that we deal in financial services; more specifically, we simplify BTC ownership, as well as make it secure. Paper vaults are like a piggy bank, and much like a personal piggy bank someone would have to quite literally break into your house, your safe, wherever you keep your Private Keys and Bitcoin Addresses and steal them that way.

I appreciate your input and questions folks.

[TheBankofBitcoin.com]

TimeofMind, you can absolutely use the standard Bitcoin client. There are problems with that though for a lot of people, although it may not be a problem for you.

One disadvantage of using the Bitcoin client to store your BTCs is that you have to spend them from the same device the client is being run on, or another device that is running the client. The Bank of Bitcoin makes it where you can spend your BTCs from any internet-connected device, anywhere in the world. That device does not need to be running the standard client. You could pick up your friend's iphone and spend your BTCs from there. Being able to pay someone in BTCs from your cell phone is a convenience that not many people have right now (or unfortunately need, but we're hoping to help change that). You could receive BTCs on your cell, and spend them from your work computer without any special software.

Running the client is also a huge drain on memory and bandwidth, which may not be a problem for you but is a problem for many people- and is a barrier in terms of BTC being adopted by the world. Running Bitcoin software on your own computer or other device typically requires downloading the full Bitcoin "block chain". The block chain is the full history of all Bitcoin transactions which have occured since the inception of Bitcoin. This is currently about 7GB of data and growing quickly. Maintaining a full copy of the block chain requires an ever-increasing allocation of memory, and the constant downloading of new transactions makes it impractical (and essentially impossible for people with slower Internet connections).

Our solution is to download and store the block chain on our server. We use our memory and bandwith, thus freeing up your resources, making Bitcoin easily accessible to all. This is in large part an effort to make this a more convenient (and therefore viable) currency. Thanks.

[papaminer]

i wanted to lol but some claim makes a good point...

until i saw GODADDY SEAL...

now i can LOL...

[TheBankofBitcoin.com]

Papaminer- Well I hope any good points we make aren't overshadowed by GoDaddy 

[Explodicle]

First of all, the Paper Wallet is hackable. If someone can hack your GoDaddy site, then they can modify the javascript to share keys with the hacker. The average person might skim over the code once, but not every time from every device. This is inherently less secure than downloading the client once per device.

Second, the part which actually makes you a bank - the active storage - is just as hackable as MtGox.

Third, you are government-regulated. You're hosted by GoDaddy and they'll comply with a court order. If you don't want regulations you'd better be certain of your anonymity and should probably move to Tor. But that also makes it much harder for anyone to trust you.

[Kuzushi]

I admire your entrepreneurial spirit.  The risk/reward ratio of bitcoin related businesses is HUGELY positive and with the right idea you could make a fortune, but I'm not sure if a bitcoin bank is that idea.

In this day and age the word "Bank" has almost become a four letter word and the idea of one brings out strong negative emotions in most people that like bitcoin, and a strong negative feeling is not a good first impression for a person to have that you're trying to sell your product/service to. 

The people on this forum are both your target market (bitcoiners) and your greatest critics, so if an idea can pass the "acid-test" of this forums unofficial peer review process then you can put serious money behind your idea with even more confidence.

What is the problem that you are offering a solution to that can't be solved by simply using Armory?

[WBlaylock]

My unqualified, probably not fully educated (as I have only been about this a year or so) opinion:

The word "bank" in any connotation where "anonymous" and "not controlled by any government" are tossed about like candy at the Thanksgiving Parade is probably much more a liability than a help, even with TBoB's lengthy missives on that subject.

Next, it is entirely likely that what you are offering is pretty much the same as having a wallet somewhere for "instant access" (or as close as possible depending on the fees, etc.) and Armory software.

Next the convenience you offer between other "members" may be a bonus point.

I strongly suspect that only time will tell one way or the other, but for now I am a bit more skeptical than ready to jump on the bandwagon.

[TheBankofBitcoin.com]

Explodicle- We are not hosted by GoDaddy. They are our registrar, i.e, where we registered our domain name.  They are also where we purchased our SSL certificate.  I don't think GoDaddy has the capability of actually hosting such a technically demanding site as ours, but I could be wrong.  In any event, they are not our webhost.

As for a Government order, there is no sensitive personal information kept on our server.  All that is needed to register is a valid email address (which are easy enough to create anonymously) and a password.  We don't ask for anyone's name or other personal information. 

The way that our Paper Vaults are designed an operate prevents us from knowing your Paper Vault addresses, or from being able to access your Paper Vaults in any way, because we don't have the Private Keys.

Because there are many other websites which actually DO store your Bitcoins/Private Keys on their server while we encourage our Members to store the majority of their Bitcoins in offline Paper Vaults there is much less incentive to attempt to hack us, compared to other online services.

Also, to address the issue of a hacker trying to modify any of the javascript involved with our Paper Vaults we have created a page with pretty simple instructions for checking the md5 checksum of the source code for our Paper Vault pages.  Essentially, this allows our users to tell if the code for these pages is ever modified in a fairly simple way.  It also allows us to regularly check this as a part of our own daily routine, and take any needed countermeasures should the need arise.  This page is available at
https://thebankofbitcoin.com/docs/check_for_yourself.php?lang=en.

WBlaylock- You are probably right about the word "bank."  But as I have said earlier in this thread, the term "bank" does have meaning outside of government controlled banks.  And in this case, with regard to our Paper Vaults, they are even more secure, because no government can control your spending of Bitcoins from your Paper Vault, and no government can confiscate your Bitcoins from a Paper Vault.

[BitWulf]

I don't think a bitcoin bank is really needed.. Isn't a bitcoin bank contrary to what BTC stands for?